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Liftoff

This Wednesday the Diocese of Bridgeport will give birth to The Leadership Institute. I get to be the midwife.

So much has changed in a year: new job, new house, new diocese, new parish, new friends, new challenges. It is a great blessing to be working in a diocese that values vision, direction, and creativity. Our leaders encourage people to look beyond the proverbial box and into what is possible for ministry, for the faithful, and for everything in between. We are coworkers in the Vineyard in every sense of the word.

My role as the founding director of the Institute means that I am the one who has been fortunate to bring the work that we have been able to do thus far to fruition. We are not as far as I would like, delayed by finding the right technology and making sure all the pieces of the puzzle fit. Still, it has been an amazing year (almost a year since I began) and the plans for what is next have me getting to work early and staying late. It is an exciting time to be a part of ministry here in Fairfield County.

On Wednesday night we will gather in prayer to launch the Institute. Shortly thereafter, learning modules will go online, workshops will be announced, and formation will commence. But first, we will reflect on Sirach 6, which encourages those who encounter the last half of the chapter to search for wisdom through patience, persistence, docility, and perseverance, knowing that we can search for wisdom all we want, but must remember that only God grants it.

We will also reflect on 1 Corinthians 15, one of my favorite Pauline passages. “…by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective…” Indeed, as I look back over all that has changed, all that endured before the changes happened, all those I left – eagerly and begrudgingly – all that I am and all that I have been – has made me who I am today.

Join me, please, in praying our official Institute prayer in thanksgiving for who we are as children of God, and for the great success of all the Institute hopes to accomplish.

God of Wisdom and Love,
You have called us to be missionary disciples of your Son,
and to use our gifts to build up His Body, the Church.
Empower us to follow the example of the twelve apostles
and to spread the Good News to the ends of the earth.

May we Encounter You in all our studies,
May our Formation be guided by Your Holy Spirit,
And may the Discipleship in which we share transform us
So that our ministry may renew the world
One person at a time.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

To learn more about the Institute, please visit www.formationreimagined.org

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Death And Life Are In The Power Of The Tongue

I’m sorry…I didn’t mean it

I take it back

Strike it from the record

What is as irreversible as murder, violates its victims more than theft, is as deadly as an epidemic? And is a lot closer to you than you want to think?

Gossip, slander, and thoughtless speech. Gossip is a million-dollar industry in our country today. We tend to think of it as a sport, harmless and fun. After all, it’s only words.

As Christians, we are called to see it differently. Which is worse, we must ask, to steal from someone or to speak ill of someone? To defraud a person or to humiliate him? Answer: Property can be restored, but the damage done to another can never be undone. In fact, our Jewish ancestors compared slander and humiliation with murder: the destruction is irreparable and enduring.

You can’t take it back. What we say about each other is terribly powerful: words have a long, long half-life, and they can destroy in unseen, unhealable ways.

Our words are a footprint we leave for the world. What will they reveal about the way we treat our children, our parents, our friends, students, co-workers, employees? How we treat ourselves?

It’s a new year. Perhaps none of us will find a cure for cancer, or feed the world’s hungry, or bring about world peace. But nearly every day we find ourselves with someone’s reputation or sense of worth in our hands.

We can improve our world in a powerful, pervasive way; we can act as though our words had the power of life and death.

They do.

About this reflection

When I was a child, there was an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal with the headline and text above, though I have edited some text. The ad was in celebration of the Jewish New Year, I believe. My mother, wise as she was, cut it out and posted it on the refrigerator. If you said or did something that warranted further reflection, you got to stand in front of the full page of newsprint. In time, I had it memorized. When her children moved out of the house, my mother made sure we each got a copy. Mine hangs on the refrigerator and I can still say it by heart. We learn slowly as children…and sometimes more slowly as adults. Happy New Year Mom. Happy New Year One and All.

 

 

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Almost Christmas

‘Twas the week before Christmas
And all over the place
Unfinished projects
Stare us right in the face

The shopping’s not done
The wrapping – forget it
The living room, once clean,
Looks like a hurricane hit it

The tree is up,
So is the wreath.
It will all come together
By the skin of our teeth

But it snowed this weekend,
Our first in this state
Five inches in all
The kids couldn’t wait

To go out and play
And sled down the hill
And then sit by the fire
To shake off the chill

So the troops are quite happy
School’s almost done
Then we celebrate Christmas
And the birth of the Son

Who brings us great Joy
And good will and His peace
May He live in your hearts
With a love that won’t cease

May your week be quite blessed
And your halls be all decked
May your list be all finished
Your to-dos all checked

May the Love that we celebrate
Warm your heart and your home
May you take the spirit of Christmas
Wherever you roam

 

 

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Mary On My Mind

On this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I have Mary on my mind.

I am reminded of my father and the many, many days we prayed the Rosary on the way to school. I remember coming home from school to find his car in the driveway – an oddity for so early in the day – and being told of a death in the family and then sitting in the living room reciting my father’s favorite prayer. I remember praying the Rosary every afternoon at the Grotto at Notre Dame. I remember talking with dad about new Mysteries of the Rosary he wanted to make up because he had run out of prayers. I remember dividing up the decades of the Rosary at dad’s wake among all the siblings and my older brother forgetting the words.

I remember Mary.

So on this day, I offer one of my favorite poems by Ruth Mary Fox, which is based on the alternative Gospel reading for today. May we be more like Mary, carrying Christ on life’s busy, crowded highways.

Into the hillside country Mary went

Carrying Christ.

And all along the road the Christ she carried

Generously bestowed His grace on those she met.

 

But she had not meant to tell she carried Christ

She was content to hide His love for her.

But about her glowed such joy that into stony hearts

Love flowed

And even to the unborn John, Christ’s love was sent.

 

Christ, in the sacrament of love each day, dwells in my soul

A little space.

So as I walk life’s crowded highways

Jostling men who seldom think of God

To these, I pray, that I may carry Christ

For it may be

Some may not know of him

Except through me.

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Giving Thanks

This Thursday when we gather as a family, we do so in a new home in a new town in a new state. So I asked for the list of “things we are thankful for” a little early.

The nine year old is grateful for the roof over our heads. Her mother is grateful that the construction projects under said roof are almost at an end.

The eleven year old is grateful that we are together under one roof again, having lived apart from February through June. She added that she is also grateful that the house in Delaware sold so quickly (to which her parents nodded in agreement).

The ten year old if grateful for new friends and her new school while the seven year old is just grateful for everything.

Dad is grateful that he gets to go to a job he loves every day and return home to a family he loves even more.

This week, may you gather with those you love, ignore politics, and talk about family, friends, good health, and important things, like whether cranberries should be served with or without the berries.

Let us reflect together:

To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.  

Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.

― Thomas Merton

 

 

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Needs

I was really afraid I would have to write about politics this morning. Everyone is still talking about the election. As Fr. John said at Mass on Sunday, it happens every year: If you backed the winner, you are elated. If you backed the loser, you can’t understand how everyone else could be so thick headed. Still, the Republic stands.

But this year seemed different. The campaign was uglier than usual, filled with fear-mongering, comments we would never repeat to our children, and promises that, if carried out, seemed just as un-American as they are un-Christian. A generation used to getting its way has taken to the streets. Up is down. Apples are oranges. Politics has become the ultimate reality show and the person who could out punch, out last, out tweet, and out manipulate their opponent has won.

But I don’t want to write about politics. So I look to this morning’s Gospel reading for hope.

There it is, Luke’s version of the blind man on the side of the road. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asks.

The man replied, “Please, I want to see.”

This reading always makes me chuckle. The man was blind. The people on the side of the streets knew it (they had to tell him what all the fuss along the road was about). My guess is the townspeople knew it. He certainly knew he was blind. And Jesus likely knew too, if not as he entered the town, surely Jesus was smart enough as others led the man to him to realize the man was blind.

Still, he asked the question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

I always imagined Peter, who struggled to understand so many things, slapping himself on the forehead at the question and then leaning in to whisper to Jesus, “Dude, he’s blind. You really had to ask?”

But yes, Jesus has to ask. Because the question demands an answer – just as much now as then.

What do you need? What do you want? What can the Master Teacher do for you today? How can I heal you? How can I serve you? What do you want me to do for you?

The story is not about a man born blind. The story is about a Messiah who wants to know our needs.

So name your needs. Tell Jesus what’s bothering you. Pray your story, your frustrations, your fears, and your hopes.

Then let Jesus give you the ability to see and enjoy the unmerited grace that comes from simply naming your needs.

 

 

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When All Else Fails…Pray

Lord God, as the election approaches,
we seek to better understand the issues and concerns that confront our city/state/country, and how the Gospel compels us to respond as faithful citizens in our community.

We ask for eyes that are free from blindness
so that we might see each other as brothers and sisters,
one and equal in dignity, especially those who are victims of abuse and violence, deceit and poverty.

We ask for ears that will hear the cries of children unborn and those abandoned, men and women oppressed because of race or creed, religion or gender.

We ask for minds and hearts that are open to hearing the voice of leaders who will bring us closer to your Kingdom.

We pray for discernment so that we may choose leaders who hear your Word, live your love, and keep in the ways of your truth
as they follow in the steps of Jesus and his Apostles
and guide us to your Kingdom of justice and peace.

We ask this in the name of your Son Jesus Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

 

Now…go vote.

 

 

Source: http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/prayers/prayer-before-an-election.cfm

 

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Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

Thirty seven percent of all statistics are made up.

Believe me?

You shouldn’t. I made that up.

I read an article this weekend about the rise of fake news sites. It seems that in this age of social media, more and more people are simply making up the news and spreading it around. Case in point, one of the characters in the election year tragedy playing out in our country tweeted something this weekend as news. Two hundred and fifty thousand people retweeted it (forwarded the message) or hit the “like” button to show their support.

The problem? The original tweet had no basis in fact. The candidate had simply made it up.

To be fair, both sides use social media to highlight their competitor’s faults and oversell their own version of truth. That’s politics.

But in this hyperpartisan age of campaigning, we would all be wise to do our research before believing what we read or before passing something on.

I suppose turning off the television and ignoring the whole thing is another option.

Then again, maybe history can teach us.

Two thousand years ago, a weary band of men and women met a man who changed their world. His message was love over hate, forgiveness over revenge, mercy over murder, light over darkness, justice over expediency.

No social media. No Twitter. No Facebook. No Instagram. Just the power of a positive message.

Maybe therein lies the lesson. Seek the Truth where it may be found. Spread the news that renews. Live in a way that shows others we recognize God’s presence so that in our touch, our words, our actions, God may touch, and speak, and act.

Then, perhaps, others may sense God’s presence when we pass by and, seeing us, know with little effort, they catch a glimpse of God.

No online presence is necessary.

Come Holy Spirit, renew the face of the Earth…

 

 

Artwork source: http://hoshanarabbah.org

 

 

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St. Paul and the Election Season

A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians

Brothers and sisters:

That means everyone. All of us. No one is excluded.

Be kind to one another, compassionate,

No name calling.

forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

Help us, Lord, to understand and forgive – or simply to forgive – to comfort the sorrowful and heal the scars of division.

 Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,

That doesn’t say, “act like children,” it says imitate God like children do, free of animosity and hatred.

as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.

We may have to suffer for a bit, but offer the suffering up for the needs of others who have less than you, suffer more than you, are more forgotten than you.

Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones,

This may require us to turn off the television.

no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place,

In public or in private. In verbal or electronic form.

but instead, thanksgiving.

You are an ambassador of others. Your needs are secondary. You are running for an office that serves, not saves.

Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure or greedy person,

Oh, Lord give us strength.

that is, an idolater,

Help me form my conscious sincerely.

has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.

Give me courage discern the essential from the merely desirable, the good from the less good, the less good from the bad.

Let no one deceive you with empty arguments,

But doesn’t that cover most of the arguments I hear.

for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient.

God will sort it out in the end.

So do not be associated with them.

Help me reflect the Light, oh Lord.

For you were once darkness,

Sometimes it feels that I still am.

but now you are light in the Lord.

Thank you, Jesus.

Live as children of light.

And invite others to do the same.

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Plans

So as I look at the week ahead and review my to do lists, what we will cook for dinner, what still needs to be done around the house, and what will occupy my time at work and at home, I look to this morning’s Gospel for direction.

And, as usual, Luke interrupts my thoughts with a challenge. We have all been the man in the story from this morning’s Gospel reading. He has a wonderful harvest and makes plans to build bigger barns. But then something comes along and ruins those plans – or in his case, his own death gets in the way of the new barns he wanted to build.

In the story, the man is chastised not because he plans but because his plans do not include God. “Here is what I will do…I shall tear down…I shall build… I shall store…then I shall say to myself…”

He keeps his wealth instead of sharing it. He plans to take care of himself and forgets those in need around him. He looks out for number one and avoids eye contact with the man or woman standing next to him, those standing on the corner, those sitting across from him or suffering across the world.

It’s a story to which we can all relate.

But, as the poet reminds us, “No man is an island…”

So I go back over my schedule for the week. When is time for prayer? When will I make sure I am present to others? When will I go out of my way to share the harvest, limited though it may be at times, with others?

Planning is good. Plans that include God are better.